Summer Reading

Now that summer has officially begun for me, I can feel free to dig into some books I've been saving for the only season that allows for a few lazy afternoons. As with everything else in my life, I made a list of books that made the cut for this summer. And, as with everything else in my life, the list is subject to change. More than once.

1. Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad. I honestly have no idea what this is about, or anything about Conrad, but it was a book that got cut from my AP Lit class reading list, and since I loved or appreciated everything else on there, I thought I'd try it out. Also, I just like the name.

2. Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. I've had this heavyweight sitting on my shelf since last fall and I've just been waiting to read it until I had time to wrap my head around it.  Here goes.

3. Envy and Splendor, both by Anna Godbersen. Okay, technically two, but I'm already halfway through Envy, and they're part of a series called The Luxe, about people in the Upper East Side Manhattan in 1900.  Easy to read and pretty addictive,

4. Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen. Janey and I are tight. We are soul mates, I'm pretty sure. It won't be Pride and Prejudice, (nothing could), but it will still be Austen, and therefore I can't help but love it.

5. A Room of One's Own, by Virginia Woolf. Seriously, I love this woman. She was such an incredible writer and such a genius. (Yes, I spelled that wrong the first time.) I've only read Mrs. Dalloway, (the very name is practically inspiration itself), and I am dying to get into some of her other works.

6. Blankets, by Craig Thompson.  I read Watchmen this year and that was my first introduction to graphic novels. I didn't love (don't hate me), but I have an appreciation for many things that I don't actually love.  I've heard the storyline of this book is more up my alley anyway, so I'm going to check it out. At least for the culture.

7. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel. I've heard many great things. And no bad things. All from intelligent people whose taste I mostly trust.

8. The Orange Eats Creeps, by Grace Krilanovich.  A friend of mine read this during the winter for a class we were both in, and she told me this was crazy stuff. I read a couple bits a pieces of it and one quote really stuck with me, "His mouth was the hottest spot on his body and I sought it out like a little girl." It's about cracked-up, teenage, vampire whores or something like that.  Not that there really is anything like that. How can I not read it?

9. Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo. This is my sister's favorite book and she's been on my case to read it for ages, so I guess it's about time.

10.  Virginia Woolf: A Biography, by Quentin Bell.  Or another good biography of her, if I come across one.  I think her life illuminates her work so much and it becomes stronger with the support of that history. Plus, I'm a huge fan of hers to begin with.  I think too often I focus on the fiction or poetic work of writers and not on them as a person and artist, but all of than lends so much depth to their work.